Lost Blood
by The PinkCorsair
Summary: Severus Snape's greatest secrets are revealed. They will change the life of our favored little Gryffindor Know-it-all forever.
1. Default Chapter

Author's Notes:

This story was beta'd by Nakhash Makashefah.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and Co. I own nothing.

Lost Blood.

Severus stood in the shadows of an alley as he watched Jonathan Granger and his daughter, Hermione, leave their London flat together. He waited for the two to catch a taxi before he crossed the street to their flat. Ignoring the Muggle doorbell, he rapped hard three times on the Grangers' front door. A few seconds later, Elizabeth Granger answered the door.

"Severus, what are you doing here?" she asked, with a puzzle look on her face.

"Elizabeth, you should always check who's at the door before just opening it," Snape scolded, as he moved inside passed her.

"I thought it was Jonathan. He's always forgetting something," she explained.

"It could very well have been a Dark wizard, instead of myself," Snape irritably said. "I have put the safety of our only child in your and your Muggle husband's hands. I do wish you two were more diligent about it."

"Severus, you know I take Hermione's safety very seriously. Need I remind you that the only harm that has ever come to her was while she at Hogwarts with you. Maybe you should be the one more diligent in the future?" Elizabeth suggested with a smirk.

"That sharp tongue of your is precisely why I never asked for your hand in marriage," Snape stated with a scowl.

"You didn't ask because I am a Muggle. It would have been very hard for you to be a Death Eater spy, if you had a Muggle wife in tow. Besides, what makes you think I would have excepted your proposal?" she teasingly asked. But Severus was still able to detect a hint of regret in her voice. He also felt regret, regret for the family he gave up and regret for the daughter he would never know as his own.

"I wish things were different, Liz, but fate seems always to conspire against me," he told her, as he brought one hand to her face and caressed her cheek. "You're still as beautiful as the first day we met and our daughter looks just like you."

"She may took like me, but she acts like her father most of the time. It's nearly impossible to win a argument with her, anymore," Elizabeth said, as she placed her hand on his.

"Unfortunately, I must agree with you," Severus said, as he withdrew his hand from hers. "She hadn't even completed her first year at Hogwarts before she was knee-deep in Dark wizards. Every year, she and that moronic Potter boy seem to get themselves into even more trouble."

"Hermione is very loyal to her friends. She must get that from my side of the family," Liz told him with a smile.

"I would prefer that she was more loyal to her own common sense than to that Gryffindor lot," Snape angrily suggested.

"I'm afraid Hermione is who she is, Severus. Whether you like it or not, she is definitely a Gryffindor," Liz firmly stated.

"That is why I have come, Elizabeth. She is currently incapable of staying out of trouble. I feel something must be done if she is to survive," he told her.

"And just what did you have in mind, Severus?" Liz asked, as she crossed her arms, a skeptical look on her face.

"She'll be sixteen in less than a month. At sixteen, she will be old enough to receive an apprenticeship. Her O.W.L's scores were the best Hogwarts has seen in three generations. I could easily get her on with any top wizard or witch in their field. Something outside the United Kingdom, of course. I hear the Americans are doing some revolutionary things with both Charms and Potions these days," Snape suggested.

"Severus, Hermione loves Hogwarts and her friends. She would never agree to leave," she told him.

"Then don't give her a choice, Elizabeth. I don't think you really appreciate the danger that she is now in. By helping Potter directly take on the Dark Lord, she will be marked for death. Our only option is to remove her from the Death Eaters' field of influence. At least then, she will have a chance at a safe normal life," Snape seriously said to her.

"I will not send my daughter away, Severus," she flatly stated. "It's bad enough I only get to see her three months out of year, now. Sending her to a foreign county, for God knows how long, is out of the question. Besides, we both know it won't guarantee her safety. You've told me yourself, the Death Eaters have killed people all over the world."

"If she is no longer seen as a threat to them, they will not brother with a simply Muggle-born witch. They will continue to concentrate on Potter and Dumbledore," Snape heatedly told her.

"You don't know that for certain. They may see her as more vulnerable by herself, away from Hogwarts. I prefer knowing that she is safely under your and Dumbledore's care," she told him, refusing to give a inch. She and Hermione were so much alike at times like this. Severus sometime wondered how Jonathan Granger had ever survived.

"I cannot protect her, Elizabeth. I must keep her at a distance from me. I won't be there to help when she is in danger," he explained to her.

"Why must you keep her at such distance, Severus. You're not a spy anymore. The Dark Lord knows that you will never return to him. Why not tell her who you really are?" she asked in an almost a pleading voice.

"I must still present the appearance of neutrality in this war. I will no longer be able to gather any intelligence for the Order if I acknowledge a Muggle-born child," he told her.

"Severus, she needs to know you're her father. She needs to know where the magic in her blood comes from. Before you're found dead in some alley after one of your late night reunions," Elizabeth said, as a tear ran down her cheek. Severus pulled her close in a tight hug.

Whispering in her ear, he said, "I wish she knew, as well. But her safety is what I must concern myself with. She has a father now that she truly loves. Who am I to take that away from her?" Severus sorrowfully asked.

"You're her real father, that's who," Elizabeth answered.

"I wish it were that simple, Liz," he said, as he pulled away from her.

"It can be, Severus," she said with teary eyes. "I've already discussed it with Jonathan. He agrees that Hermione should know the truth. He doesn't want his relationship with her to be based on a lie, anymore."

Snape ran his hands through his thick hair as he turned away from her. He wanted Hermione to know as much, or even more, than her mother. But he just couldn't take the risk, not now. "Maybe after the war is over she can be told. After she has left Hogwarts," he suggested.

"After the war?" Liz irately asked. "Severus, we both know your living now on borrowed time. I have no intention of telling my daughter who her father was at your funeral."

"That might be the only way," Snape said in a low voice, as he headed for the door.

"No, Severus. She deserves better than that. If you won't tell her, then I will," Elizabeth firmly stated.

"Then I will leave it to you," Severus told her, as he opened the front door. Without looking back, he stepped out into the night.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

I personally think that a story with Severus as Hermione's father makes a lot more sense to any kind of romantic story between them. They both have a lot in common, if you ask me. They're both smart, talented know-it-alls, that think they have all the answers; most of the time they're right. Hermione also loves to play the spy. She did come up with the Polyjuice idea in book two. And what she did to Marietta Edgecombe was very Snape-like.

I think this kind of story would make a great challenge.

So, what does everybody think?


	2. My Secret

Author's Notes:

I want to thank each and every one of you for your wonderful reviews. Almost everyone liked the father/daughter concept. Some were still a little hung up on SS/HG romantic only ships. It messes with their heads that she is young enough to be his daughter. I truly would love to see more stories with this scenario in them. I really liked the Severitus challenge stories and I think these could be just as good.

Warning, this chapter was beta'd by the extremely evil Nakhash Mekashefah. This story may now contain evil, antisocial, subliminal messages. She is trying to take over the world one reader at a time.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and Co. I own nothing.

Lost Blood.

Chapter 02. My secret.

Elizabeth waited nervously in her flat for her daughter's return home. It had been two weeks since Severus had called her bluff. Tomorrow, Hermione would head back to Hogwarts for her sixth year. If she was going to tell Hermione the truth, it had to be tonight. She cursed Severus for putting her in this position. It was his idea to keep the truth from Hermione and he should be here to suffer the consequences right along with her.

"Mum, I'm home," Hermione announced, as she opened the front door.

"Honey, could you come into the study please?" Elizabeth asked.

"What's up?" Hermione cheerfully asked as she flopped down in a large chair opposite her mother.

"How did your shopping go?" Elizabeth asked nervously, not knowing where to begin.

"Fine, I just got a couple new jumpers, socks, and a few new undies," Hermione answered. "Oh mum, you would not believe what they had for sale at Harrods - New laptop computers that have 200-megabyte processors, CD-ROM, and 32 Megs of RAM in them. That's five times faster than the old 486 in my room. God, I wish Muggle technology would work at Hogwarts. I could get my school work done in a third of the time it normally takes me."

"We would get you a new computer, Hermione. But your father and I are afraid it will be outdated before it's even a year old," Liz told her daughter.

"Oh, come on, mum, that's ridiculous. A 200-megabyte computer will be state of the art for the next ten years," Hermione confidently informed her mother.

"Hermione, there's something very important I need to discuss with you before you head back to Hogwarts," Liz seriously said.

"What is it?" Hermione curiously asked.

"Hermione, I need to tell you something that I should have told you a long time ago," Elizabeth said as she began nervously rubbing her hands together. "Before you were born, I made a very big decision about your future. I still believe it was the right thing to do. But now that you're older and involved it the magical world, I think it's time you knew the whole truth."

"Mum, just what are you trying to say?" Hermione impatiently asked.

Still nervously rubbing her hands together, Elizabeth continued. "Hermione, you need to know that your father and I love you very much, we always have and that will never change. What I'm about to tell you is going to very difficult for you to hear, but you deserve to know the truth about your birth."

"Mum, are you going to tell me that dad isn't my biological father?" Hermione calmly asked her mother.

"Wa…Wa…Wa…What!" Elizabeth stuttered in complete shock. "You already know?"

"Yeah, ever since I was eight," Hermione coolly answered.

"How could you know?" Liz asked sounding very confused.

"Remember when you let me read some of your medical books for the first time? In one of them was a chapter on blood-typing. I asked you what blood type I was and what type you were. You said I was A-positive and that you were O-positive. What you didn't know was, I also asked dad his type. He told me he was B-positive. I knew from the book that an O-positive plus a B-positive doesn't equal an A-positive," Hermione told her mother.

"You've known for over seven years. Why haven't you said anything?" Liz asked her daughter, in a state of disbelief.

"Because I didn't care, Mum," Hermione firmly stated. "I knew you and Dad loved me, and that was all that really mattered. You're the greatest parents in the world, I couldn't ask for anything more."

"Haven't you been curious about your real father?" Liz asked.

"Dad is my real father, as for as I'm concerned. I don't care about some creep that never wanted me," Hermione angrily said. Elizabeth could tell by her daughter's expression that she had wondered about her real father. She wondered why he had rejected her. Elizabeth knew she had to tell Hermione the whole story.

"Hermione, your real father does love you. He has been a part of your life since you were three, you just haven't known about it. The truth is, I never told him I was pregnant. By the time he found out about you, I was already married to Jonathan," Liz told her.

"Why didn't you tell him? Was he that bad a boyfriend?" Hermione asked.

" I didn't tell he because I knew we could never be a family. He lived in a very different and dangerous world than me. I wanted to protect you from that. I had never planned to tell him you existed. He found out about you after the Ministry registered you as a Muggle-born witch. You started summoning toys off of store shelves when you were only three," Liz said to Hermione.

"OH MY GOD, MY FATHER IS A WIZARD!" Hermione shouted excitedly. "Who is he? How did you fall in love with a wizard?" Hermione anxiously asked her mother. Elizabeth thought it would be best to answer the easier question first.

"Do you remember what job I used to have when I was in college?" Liz asked her daughter.

"Sure, you worked nights at Scotland Yard's Medical Examiner's office," Hermione answered.

"That's right. I worked there to earn extra money for dental school. About a year before you were born, a strange case came into the Examiner's office. Three bodies were found in south London with very strange wounds on then. Two of the bodies had burn marks on them like nothing the coroner had ever seen before. The third body had no marks at all, it was as if he were scared to death," Liz said.

"That sounds like the Death Curse. They must have been wizards," Hermione said to her mother.

"Unfortunately, no one at the Examiner's office knew wizards existed. One night, about an hour after I had gotten off, I when back to the office to get some concert tickets I had accidentally left in my desk. When I got to the Examiner's office, both the security guards were missing. I heard voices coming from the morgue, so I went to investigate. Inside the morgue were two men dressed in black robes with silver masks on their faces. They were removing the three bodies from south London." Liz said.

"Death Eaters," Hermione restlessly stated. "What did you do?" Hermione asked, trying to spur her mother into continuing the story.

"I turned and ran is what I did. But I didn't even reach the door before I was hit with what felt like a bolt of lightning," Liz answered.

"That had to be the Stupefying Charm. It's a Stunner and really packs a punch," Hermione informed her mother.

"Well, I woke about twenty minutes later with a young man standing over me. My blouse had been torn open and someone had tried to remove my skirt. At first I was afraid he was with the other two men, because he was dressed in similar robes. Then I saw the other two lying on the floor next to me. They were both dead. The young man had a very bad burn wound on his left upper chest, just like the ones on the bodies. He was having a hard time breathing. Before I could ask who he was, he pointed his wand at me. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in my own bed. All my memories of the previous night were gone, I had even forgotten about the concert tickets," Liz told Hermione.

"He Obliviated your memories. How did you remember?" Hermione asked.

"About two weeks later, I saw the same man on the street outside a small pub. As soon as I saw him, all the memories of that night in the Examiner's office came crashing back into my head," Liz answered.

"He must have been really weak when he tried to Obliviated your memories. That's why it wore off when you saw him," Hermione explained.

"You're just full of answers today, aren't you? Maybe you would like to finish the story while I listen," Liz suggested, giving her daughter an annoyed look.

"Sorry Mum, please continue," Hermione sheepishly said.

"I saw him go into the pub. The strange thing was I had never seen this pub before, even though I passed it everyday when I went to school. I followed him inside. It was the strangest place I had ever seen before. Everybody inside the pub was wearing robes. A dishrag was moving by itself, cleaning the top of the bar. I spotted the man sitting at a table with two older men in dark robes. I was only in the pub for a minute when he spotted me. As soon as he got out of his seat, I ran out the door. I saw him follow me outside just as I got into a taxi.

"I thought I had lost him; but that night, when I got home, I found him waiting for me in my flat. I told him it was no use in trying hypnotize me again or killing me to shut me up, because I had already written down and recorded what I saw that night in the morgue, on a cassette tape. I told him if I disappeared or was found dead, Scotland Yard would get the letter and the tape," Liz told Hermione.

"What did he do?" Hermione nervously asked.

"He was furious about the letter and tape. He told me that it was a very stupid thing to do and that I was going to get myself killed. He then left, but not before telling me never to follow him or go into that pub again. What he didn't know was, I was making the whole letter and cassette thing up," Liz coyly said.

"Did you follow him again?" Hermione asked.

"No, I didn't have to. I kept spotting him spying on me. He did it on and off for the next two weeks. Finally, I decided to trick him into having dinner to find out what he was up to," Liz answered.

"How did you trick him?"

"It was easy. I made my mother's famous beef and chicken casserole. When the meal was ready, I threw the circuit breaker, shutting off all the lights. I then screamed at the top of my lungs and broke a glass bottle on the floor. Five seconds, later he burst through the front door with his wand in his hand. It took a little coaxing but I got him to stay for dinner," Elizabeth explained to her daughter.

"Mum if you were a witch, I'm sure you would have been a Slytherin," Hermione said with a smile. "What happened at the dinner?"

"We talked. I found out that he was a wizard and that there were many witches and wizards all over the world. He was also very interested in science. He said magic was not very well understood, not even by wizards. He wouldn't talk about what happened in the morgue. He would just say that there were some very bad wizards on the loose. I also found out that he was my age and was very lonely. It wasn't hard to get him to come back for another dinner. He was kind of attractive in a scruffy sort of way," Liz told her.

"How long before you two got serious about each other?" Hermione asked.

"About a month. Then we were together for the next three," Liz answered.

"What happened? Why did you two break up?" Hermione apprehensively asked.

"One night, he told me that it was too dangerous for me to see him anymore. He said that he was working with other witches and wizards to get rid of the Dark wizards. He said if any Dark wizards found out that we were seeing each other, I could be killed. He made me promise to never seek him out or to have anything more to do with the Wizarding world. Even though he had broken my heart, I agreed," Liz said sadly. "I met your father two months later and the rest is history."

"He was in the Order wasn't he?" Hermione anxiously asked.

"Yes, he was," Elizabeth nervously answered, as she began to rub her hands together again.

"It's Remus Lupin isn't it?" Hermione excitedly shouted. "I should have known. He has always had a great intellectual mind; I wonder if my hair is so messed up because he's a werewolf?"

"You have my mother's hair and it's very beautiful," Liz forcefully told her daughter. "And no, Remus Lupin isn't your father."

"Sirius Black?" Hermione asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"No, not Sirius Black," Elizabeth flatly told her.

"But Remus and Sirius are the only Order members your age that were in the Order and were still alive when I was three," Hermione said, sounding very confused.

"You're forgetting one," Liz told her daughter.

"Who?"

"Severus Snape," Elizabeth announced. Liz watched as a look of shock appeared on her daughter's face. A second later, Hermione's eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed to the floor.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Next chapter coming soon.

Please review and let me know what you think about the story so far.

Here's a quick question for my readers. Should Hermione tell Harry and Ron about her father or should she try to keep it a secret?


	3. The Truth Sucks

Author's Notes:

Finally, a new chapter is here. Sorry about the delay, I was working on my other stories. I'll try to update this more regularly. I want to thank all of you that read it so far and the ones who reviewed.

Nakhash Makashefah, the beta extraordinaire, took time out of her busy day to do this chapter for me. Hopefully it didn't take too much time away from her more evil pursuits.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and Co. I own nothing.

Lost Blood.

Chapter 03. The truth sucks.

"It's nearly nine o'clock. Where's Hermione?" Liz asked her husband as she made breakfast.

"Still in her room," Jonathan answered.

"I really didn't think she'd take it this hard. Do you think I did the right thing by telling her?"

"Of course, we knew this had to be done. I only wish we would have done it sooner," he answered. "I can guarantee in time she will thank you for telling her."

"I don't know if I'm going to live that long," Liz said with a false smile on her face.

"I go see what's keeping her," Jonathan said as he got up from the table. Jonathan felt a little nervous as he approached his daughter's room on the second story of their flat. He hadn't talked to her since Liz had told her about Snape. He feared that she would no longer see him as her father. He knocked three times on her door and asked, "Hermione, are you almost packed?" There was no answer. Jonathan opened the door to his daughter's room and stepped inside. He saw a big lump under the covers on the bed. Two small pink feet were sticking out at the end. "Hermione, breakfast is almost ready, you need to start getting ready to go back to school," he said to the lump on the bed.

"I'm not going. I'm never going back there again," a muffled voice said from under the blanket.

Jonathan reached down and took hold of the edge of her bedspread. With a mighty pull, he removed it from her bed. Hermione was still in her pajamas. She squinted her eyes and curled up into a ball as the sunlight from her bedroom window washed over her. Jonathan sat on the edge of her bed and rubbed her back. It was something he had done to make Hermione feel better since she had gotten her own room at the age of three.

"I know this is hard, Pumpkin. The truth usually is. But it's something you'll learn to live with in time," he told her.

Hermione rolled over and looked up at him with tear-stained eyes. "How can I learn to live with this?" she asked. "That greasy arrogant bastard is my father, or was my father."

"He's not that bad, Hermione," he told her. "He has always been concerned about you, ever since he found out he had a daughter. I know he wishes that he could have been a bigger part of your life."

"He hates me," Hermione sincerely told him.

"He doesn't hate you, Hermione," he assured her.

"Yes he does, and I can prove it," she angrily told him. "Remember when I told you about a boy hexing me a couple of years ago, making my front teeth grow?"

"Yes, you had your school matron fix your teeth. It was a bit of a blow to my professional pride," he said with a smile.

"Well, Snape was there when it happened. Both of my teeth were over half a foot long, and do you what he said? '_I don't see any difference_'," Hermione said, trying to mimic Snape's voice.

"Ouch," Jonathan said, giving his daughter a sympathetic look. "I'm sure he didn't actually mean it. He has always been concerned about your welfare, even if he can't directly show it."

"He has always been mean to me. Now I know why. He's ashamed of having a filthy half-blooded brat," Hermione heatedly said.

"He is not ashamed of you, Hermione. I think he's very proud of the young woman you've become. I know I am," he told her with a smile.

"How can you defend such a horrible person?" Hermione asked with an annoyed look on her face.

"It's easy," Jonathan told his daughter. "The man gave me the one thing in the world I thought I'd never have, a family. Hermione, did you ever wonder why we never gave you a brother or sister?"

"Sometimes; I always thought you might once you got your practice going," she said.

"That's not the reason. I can't get your mother pregnant. I can't get anyone pregnant. I had a bad case of the Mumps when I was seventeen. I've been sterile ever since," he said with a sad look on his face. "At seventeen it didn't bother me much. But when I was in my early twenties, I realized that most women wouldn't want a husband that couldn't give them a child. Then I met your mother, and that all changed."

"Did you know she was pregnant when you met her?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, she was about five months along when I met her. She was in her first year of dental school and I was in my last. She had it pretty hard by herself. A single pregnant woman working and going to school was very rare back then. Most people looked down on her because of it. Some even spread rumors that one of her professors was the father. She never let any of it slow her down. I fell in love with your mother ten seconds after meeting her. I fell in love with you the first time I felt you kick in your mother's tummy," he warmly told her.

"You know I love you, Dad. You're the only father I want," Hermione said as she sat up and put her arms around him.

"I know you do, Pumpkin," he said as he stroked his hand through her hair. He wondered if she knew how much he needed to hear that. "Hermione, I want to show you something," Jonathan said as he got up and walked over to her bookcase. He pulled out a small leather black book and asked, "Do you remember this?"

"Of course. It's the first magic textbook you and Mum ever gave me. It was a Christmas present when I was eight. I didn't have a wand yet, but it showed me all the basic movements and beginning spells. It really gave me a leg up my first year," she answered.

"Did you ever read the inscription on the back?" he asked.

"Yes, it says "To my beloved son," signed D.S.," she told him. "I figured it was used. I know that book hasn't been printed in over two hundred years."

"Yes, it's very valuable, but we didn't give it to you. Do you know who D.S is?" he asked.

"No, I guess it's the mother of one of the former owners," Hermione said.

"It is. It once belonged to Dominique Snape. It was your grandmother's. She gave it to her son when he was eight years old, and he gave it to you when you were eight," Jonathan informed her. "This is the last thing his mother gave him before she died. I don't think he would give it to someone he didn't care about."

Hermione took the book from him. She studied it as if she had never seen it before in her life. "This doesn't make any sense," Hermione said with a puzzled look on her face. "Why would he give me this, then treat me like something he scraped off the bottom of his shoe."

"I really can't answer that, Hermione. Only he can," he told her.

"How can I face him now? What will I say?" Hermione asked him with a desperate look on her face.

"You'll think of something when the time comes," Jonathan told her as he embraced her in a hug. As much as he wanted her to know Snape, he feared it even more.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

An hour later, Hermione and her parents put her trunk in a taxi's boot and left for King's Cross station. Across the street, two figures in dark robes watched from the shadows.

"Is that her?" the larger of the two asked.

"Yes, that's Potter's Mudblood friend," the other answered.

"When will we take them?" the big man asked.

"Patience, Luther," the thin man said. "We will wait a week from now to strike. The husband is of no use to us. We will kill him and take the Muggle woman. If the Mudblood wants her mother back, she'll have to give us Potter, first."

The big man licked his lips and said, "Just as long as we get to play with her a little, first."

"Don't worry, Luther, if everything goes as planned, you'll have both mother and daughter to play with as you see fit," the thin man said.

"I will enjoy them both for weeks," Luther said with a greedy glint in his eyes.

The thin man chuckle and asked, "Luther, when has any Muggle or Mudblood slut ever lived more than a day after you started on them?"

"I'll take my time with these two. They'll watch each other suffer until they beg for death. I think I'll kill the girl first and let her mother watch," he said with a depraved look on his face.

"I bet you'll tear them both to pieces the first night. There won't be enough left to feed to the dogs," the thin man said with a smile.

"You're probably right," Luther agreed. Both men laughed and, with a loud "CRACK," disappeared into thin air.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

At one minute to eleven, Hermione rushed through the barrier at platform nine and three-quarters. Harry and Ron were standing in a coach doorway waiting for her. "Hurry, Hermione," Ron shouted as the train whistle blew. They grabbed her trunk as Hermione picked up Crookshanks and hopped on the train.

"That was close," Harry said as they moved down the passageway. Hermione noticed that all of the compartments were filled. She saw a lot of strange faces on the train.

"Who are all these new people?" Hermione asked as they passed a group of teenage girls she had never seen before.

"Students from Durmstrang," Ron told her.

"What are they doing here?" she asked as they entered a compartment at the back of the train. Ginny, Neville, Luna, Lavender, and Parvati were already inside.

"Didn't you hear, Hermione? Durmstrang was attacked. Half the castle was destroyed, and fifty people were killed," Ron told her.

"When did this happen?" Hermione asked with a surprised look on her face.

"Two days ago. It's been all over the front page of the _Daily Prophet_," Harry said.

"I only get the _Prophet_ twice week. I didn't read it last night when it came," she explained. "Do they know who was behind the attack?" she asked as she sat down between Luna and Ginny. Ron and Harry sat just across from her in the crowded compartment.

"The _Prophet_ didn't say. There was no Dark Mark over the castle, but I think we all know who it was," Harry said matter-of-factly.

"I bet You-Know-Who was looking for something there," Ron told them.

"Like what?" she asked.

"Maybe a weapon or a Dark magic book of some kind. Who knows what kind of weird stuff they had at that place," Ron said.

"So all of the students are coming to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"No," Ginny answered. "Only the ones that can read and write English. The rest are going to different schools all over Europe. We are getting about fifty of them."

"How long will they be staying?" she asked.

"They said Durmstrang will take years to rebuild, so they're probably here for good," Harry told her.

"They all have to be Sorted with the first years. Knowing this lot, Slytherin will end up being twice as big as any other house," Ron said seriously. "That greasy git, Snape, will probably treat them all like they're his very own children, too."

Hermione just narrowed her eyes at Ron after hearing what he said.

"Stop sneering at me, Hermione. You remind me of Snape when you do that," he told her.

Hermione quickly buried her face in her hands and let out a low moan.

"What did I say?" Ron asked with a baffled look on his face.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Hours later, they all sat at the Gryffindor table waiting for the Sorting to begin. Hermione looked at Snape sitting at the High Table. He still looked as ill-tempered and hostile as ever. He didn't look at her once. They didn't Sort the Durmstrang students right away; they sorted the first years first. When they did start Sorting Durmstrang, to Hermione's surprise they didn't all go to Slytherin like Ron had said they would. Most, in fact, were going to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Halfway through, Hermione heard a name she recognized. "Krum, Hugo, sixth year," Professor McGonagall called out. She instantly looked to the front of the Great Hall. Hugo took a seat on the three-legged stool. He was a carbon copy of his older brother, maybe a touch taller, but just as lanky.

"Is that Viktor's brother?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Hermione answered.

She waited impatiently as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. After a minute, the Hat shouted out: "GRYFFINDOR." Hermione and the rest of her housemates rose to their feet and began to applaud loudly. All the Slytherins looked like they had just lost the house cup. Hugo took a seat next to Seamus and Dean at the end of the table. Hermione looked at Harry and Ron, seeing the wheels in their heads turning. There were four spots to fill on the Quidditch team this year, and they had just gotten the break of the century.

One by one, all of the Durmstrang students were Sorted until there were only three left. Only five of them had become Gryffindors. Slytherin had only received two, so far. All the rest went to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The next name McGonagall called out silenced the entire hall. "Snape, Serena, fifth year." A girl with long raven-black hair, looking too small to be a fifth year student, approached the stool.

"Is that Snape's daughter?" Ginny asked in a whisper.

"Yeah," Parvati answered. "I heard a couple of the Durmstrang students talking about her on the Express. They said she's really weird."

"She has to be if she is related to Snape," Ron joked. Hermione ignored him. Her attention was fully concentrated on the small girl on the stool. The girl had the largest eyes she had ever seen. Crystal blue, like spring water. Hermione thought she looked like she was half house-elf.

McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head. Everyone in the hall waited with bated breath for what the Hat would choose. After what seemed like an incredibly long time, it shouted out: "SLYTHERIN." Hermione's heart sank in her chest. She had a sister and she was a pureblood Slytherin.

"That figure's," Ron said as he watched the girl get off of the stool. Hermione noticed that none of the Slytherins applauded as she took a seat at the end of their table. The girl didn't look at anyone else; she just stared at her feet. While the rest of the hall seemed to purposely ignore her, Hermione continued to stare at the dark haired girl with fascination for the rest of the start-of-term banquet.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Next chapter coming soon.

The plot thickens. Hermione will have her first father-daughter chat with Snape, in the next chapter.


End file.
